“Captain Liiti!” Relkir smiled as they carried baby Retvik into the office. “How are you? You wished to speak to me?”
Liiti nodded, but didn’t answer straight away. They were busy inspecting baby Retvik, who was waving at Liiti.
“I… I did, yes.”
“Is something wrong?” Relkir sat down at the desk, sitting baby Retvik in their lap. Retvik continued to wave at Liiti, but they briefly looked up at Relkir then pointed at Liiti again.
“Da! Big!”
Liiti did their best to not look too concerned, but Relkir had already picked up on that.
“There is something wrong. That is why you invited me here and not Gath, because you did not want to make Gath overly stressed.”
“Not… not wrong… just concerning.”
“Is the problem that Retvik is developing a little too quickly?” Relkir asked as they bounced Retvik a little. “Because Retvik is fine. They are a big baby, they are a smart baby, but they are a good baby.”
Liiti leaned forward. “Your baby is just over 3 months old and is already starting to say words and try to speak in a contextual manner. Most babies don’t speak until they are six months old. Retvik is developing far faster than normal and we are a little concerned.”
Relkir thought for a moment, then shrugged. “I can see that, but I think your concerns are a little extreme. Some Rethans just develop faster than others.”
“Not “three months faster” though!”
Relkir shrugged some more. “Maybe that is a little strange for you, but, well, for me? It is not strange at all.”
“How comes?” Liiti was definitely concerned, and was even more concerned when baby Retvik pointed at her.
“Big it good!”
Relkir smiled and patted baby Retvik on the head. “Yes, it is alright Liiti, things are fine. Baby Retvik is just developing slightly faster than normal. And I know this because, while we were waiting for baby Retvik to hatch, I was looking up developmental patterns and I actually found information about how I developed as a baby.”
Liiti paused. “What do you mean?”
“My growing up, between the ages of 0 and 17, were heavily documented. And admittedly kept secret from us. I have a grand total of one picture of me, Rethais and Retvik as babies, and it is the three of us going down a slide together at about the age of two. But our growth was monitored and tracked, and, well, it turns out, I started speaking, the exact same way that baby Retvik does, at the age of 4 months old. Admittedly, I was physically underdeveloped, I was always a very small baby, but that was because I was the third of three eggs laid at once and I did… somewhat get squished during the internal egg development stage. But I was talking at a very early age, and I am certain I passed that on to baby Retvik.”
“You… you think?”
Relkir glanced down at Retvik, then bounced them a little more. Retvik clearly liked being bounced and giggled with glee.
“Yes, I very much think so! I mean, Gath and I basically produced a mini version of me, but with Gath’s size. After all, Gath is huge, and baby Retvik is huge because of that.”
“Retvik is a very big baby.”
“But, funnily enough, not as big as Gath was at this age!” Relkir beamed. “I already spoke to Lesii and Kazim, Gath’s parents, and they said that Gath was always utterly gigantic. In all honesty, two… freaks on either end of the spectrum, we went ahead and had a kid, and that kid did turn out to be freakish. But that freakishness is good in every way. Retvik is a big, strong baby but also a very smart baby.”
“That… that is true…” Liiti settled down. “What is more weird is that Retvik is teaching the other babies as well.”
“Eh, I did the same thing. Rethais and Retvik learned to talk early because they were learning from me.”
“I guess… My other problem is that, well, the staff have concerns about Litvir.”
“BA!” Retvik suddenly shouted. “BIG BA!”
Relkir couldn’t help but smile as they patted Retvik on the head. “Yes, dear, we are talking about big ba. Has Litvir done something wrong?”
“No, but they seem miserable.”
Relkir’s smile faded. “I know. I am working on that.”
“Do you know what is wrong?” Liiti asked.
“Unfortunately, yes. Litvir is envious of Retvik. Because Litvir is only a year and a half older than Retvik-”
“Wait, what?” Litti interrupted. “How is Litvir less than two years old?”
Relkir sighed. “Litvir was made by the higher gods. They were made as a baby and the now dead Whenvern sped up Litvir’s development from a baby into a teenager and then gave them a bunch of weird powers on top of that. While Gath and I have done our best to make Litvir comfortable, Litvir does struggle with accepting who they are, and it is made much harder by everyone seeing a teenager and assuming that is what Litvir is.”
“Oh… That…” Liiti didn’t really know how to respond. “That is unfortunate.”
“It is. It is made worse by the fact that Litvir can pick up on our thoughts. They are well aware that they are often being judged.”
Liiti frowned. “I am sorry. I was unintentionally adding to the problem, always wondering why Litvir wanted to spend so much time with their little sibling. Is there… is there anything I can do to help? The last time Litvir was here, the three-monthers were in the soft play area and Litvir got upset because Retvik clearly wanted Litvir to join them, and Litvir refused because they said they were too big.”
“Maybe it is worth setting up a play date, just letting Litvir spend the day here with Retvik and Retvik’s friends?” Relkir suggested. “But I will have a chat with Litvir and see what they want to do… Anyway, in the mean time, are we all good when it comes to Retvik?”
Liiti nodded. “We are.”
“Alright. May I take Retvik home?”
“Of course.”
Relkir went back to smiling. “Wonderful. Retvik, say goodbye to captain Liiti!”
“Bibi!” Retvik chirped, as they waved their hands.
“Bye bye!” Liiti waved back. “Have a good day, General.”
“You too!” Relkir smiled. “Have a good one.”